Hunter Brown's dominant start leads the way as Houston Astros top New York Mets in series opener

NEW YORK – Length came from the likeliest source. Houston Astros starters have struggled to provide it in August, burdening a taxed bullpen. Hunter Brown did so Friday and lifted his club with a commanding performance.

Brown worked into the seventh inning and turned a lead over to two relievers who closed out a 3-1 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field. The Astros mustered just four hits, but that proved enough behind their ace.

Daulton Varsho delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning, after Mets starter Christian Scott had walked the bases loaded. Yainer Diaz added an RBI single in the inning that served as insurance on a night Astros pitchers combined to allow five hits and strike out 14.

The Astros inched back above .500, at 68-67, and grew their American League West lead to two games after the Rangers’ loss. They are 3-1 on a week-load road trip to New York, after taking two of three games against the Yankees.

How did Hunter Brown pitch?

Not since Aug. 10, when Hayden Wesneski threw seven innings against the Giants, had a starter finished six innings for Houston. That drought stretched to 14 games before Friday. Brown had nearly ended it in his last outing, but an inadvertent point to the bullpen by manager Joe Espada prevented it.

This time, Brown left no chances. In one of his strongest outings of the season, Brown set a season high with 10 strikeouts and held the Mets to five hits. He notched double-digit strikeouts for the third time in his career. Walks have been a problem for him. He issued just one.

Brown finished four of his strikeouts with curveballs and two more on sliders. He recorded six of his first nine outs by strikeout, not allowing a hit until the fourth. Francisco Lindor pulled a leadoff single. Carson Benge laced a changeup for a double to right-center that drove in Lindor.

Brown stranded Benge. Two singles put runners on first and third with one out in the fifth. Brown spun a curveball to A.J. Ewing that induced an inning-ending double play. Brown pumped a fist. He notched two more strikeouts in the sixth after his lineup had staked him to a lead.

At 91 pitches, he returned to start the seventh. Bryan Abreu warmed behind him. Brown induced a pop-out by Luis Robert Jr. and froze Jared Young with a front-door sinker for his last strikeout. Marcus Semien pulled a 2-0 pitch for a single. Espada emerged to remove Brown after 102 pitches.

ASTROS 3, METS 1

a-grounded out for Trammell in the 6th.

LOB_Houston 6, New York 4. 2B_Benge (18). RBIs_Varsho 2 (35), Diaz (33), Benge (54). SB_Peña (9).

Runners left in scoring position_Houston 3 (Varsho, Smith, Paredes); New York 2 (Baty, Young). RISP_Houston 2 for 7; New York 0 for 4.

Runners moved up_Robert. GIDP_Paredes, Ewing.

DP_Houston 1 (Peña, Walker); New York 1 (Bichette, Semien, Young).

Inherited runners-scored_Abreu 1-0, Lavender 3-3. WP_Abreu.

ABS Challenge_Semien (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Diaz (Strike-Overturned to Ball); Scott (Ball-Confirmed); Varsho (Strike-Confirmed); Bichette (Strike-Confirmed).

Umpires_Home, Jacob Metz; First, Carlos Torres; Second, Nate Tomlinson; Third, Mark Wegner.

T_2:43. A_28,848 (42,136).

Astros’ patience pays vs. Christian Scott

The Astros mustered one hit against Scott in his 5 ⅓ innings, a two-out single by Jose Altuve in the first inning. Scott faced 18 batters after that without allowing another. He retired 14 of 15 after Altuve’s hit, a run that carried into the sixth inning, when discipline derailed his night.

Scott entered with the fifth-highest rate of strikeouts-per-nine-innings among pitchers with at least 80 innings in the majors this year. He did not record one Friday until his 18th batter. A second strikeout, of leadoff man Jeremy Peña, started the sixth. Scott’s command faltered after it.

Yordan Alvarez watched four pitches for a walk. Isaac Paredes drew another on five pitches. Altuve saw nine pitches in a battle that ended on a high fastball. A third straight walk loaded the bases and chased Scott from the game at 96 pitches.

Lavender built a 1-2 count against Varsho, who lined a sweeper inches above the dirt into right field for a two-run single. Two batters later, Diaz poked a changeup to right for a single that scored Altuve and gave the Astros a 3-1 lead.

No bridge to back end of bullpen

Brown’s outing allowed Espada to bypass his bridge relievers and go directly to his highest-leverage arms with a lead. Abreu had not pitched since Tuesday. He replaced Brown and uncorked a wild pitch that sent Semien to second base but struck out Brett Baty to end the inning.

Abreu returned for the eighth. He induced fly outs by Luis Torrens and A.J. Ewing, then struck out Lindor, who swung through three cutters. Abreu induced five whiffs on nine swings in his outing.

Closer Josh Hader had pitched Thursday but thrown just eight pitches to work a scoreless inning against the Yankees. Hader required 18 to navigate three hitters Friday, striking out two. He is 20-for-20 in save chances this season and owns a 0.76 ERA.

Notes on Nelson Velázquez, Cam Smith

Re-signed to the major-league roster Monday, outfielder Nelson Velázquez drew just his second start with the Astros and his first against a right-handed pitcher. Velázquez primarily offers a right-handed bat to deploy against lefties, but Espada said pregame he liked the matchup with the right-hander Scott.

“I think there are some opportunities for him to catch up to maybe a fastball up out over the plate,” Espada said pregame. “I think Nelson handles those pitches. Scott is pretty neutral, righties and lefties handle him OK, so hopefully Nelson gets some quality at-bats.”

Velázquez flied out and struck out in his two at-bats against Scott. He also struck out in his final two at-bats against right-handed relievers Jonathan Pintaro and Kodai Senga.

With Velázquez in left field and left-handed hitting Taylor Trammell in right field, Cam Smith was out of the lineup Friday. Smith entered the day in a 3-for-37 skid after a promising start to August. Espada said he is not seeing fatigue from Smith but “just (that) he’s got to continue to make adjustments.”

“It’s a long season,” Espada said. “He’s a young hitter and I’m going to continue to pick my spots, trying to put him in the best positions for him to have some success.”

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This article originally published at Hunter Brown’s dominant start leads the way as Houston Astros top New York Mets in series opener.

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